take me out to the ballgame HeartLight

By the way, I'm not going to mention the "C" word anywhere in this post, which makes it a great one. :-)

One week from tonight is one of my favorite nights of the year . . . HeartLight!  HeartLight is the biggest fundraiser of the year for Agape, the agency through which my family has adopted and fostered children. Aside from foster care and adoption, Agape is involved in a number of other ministries with the goal of "speaking up for those cannot speak for themselves."

This year's HeartLight will be very different from last year's. And very different from the year before that. Instead of a dressy gala-type event like we usually have, this year is going to be much more casual and much more family-friendly. If you came to HeartLight last year, you know it gave people an up-close and personal look at some very difficult and very real situations that are happening to real people every day in our city. It was a very emotional night. This year's going to be a little more upbeat.

The theme for HeartLight this year is "Home Field Advantage", and it will take place in the plaza at Autozone Park next Saturday night. We'll spend the evening celebrating all the great things that God is doing in Memphis, learning how Agape is involved in those great things, and learning how all the rest of us can be involved in those great things! We'll eat good Memphis food and listen to some great music from local performers. We'll buy cute T-shirts and hang out with friends and watch fireworks. We'll see inspiring videos about great things God is doing through Agape (one of those videos just might be about my little brother and his brother and this story, which just happens to be the inspiration for our theme). Lots of mayors and other important people will be there. Tricia will probably even be there. You know, like, from Team Tricia? Yes, it's very likely that my mother will be making her first big post-Whipple outing to HeartLight 2010!

My mom and I are on the planning committee for this event, and even though we've been a bit totally out of the loop for the last few weeks, I know it's going to be awesome. Because God will show up and He makes things awesome. If you want to know why you should come to HeartLight and support Agape, you should probably read this post . . . or this post . . . or pretty much any post under the foster care or adoption labels. 

You can read more about HeartLight (well, maybe not, because I just told you a lot about it) and find out how to buy tickets or be a sponsor here.

We covet your prayers for this event! I'm praying that God will do BIG things in Memphis as a result of HeartLight 2010. And of course we covet your prayers for my mom. She wants so badly to be there that night - pray that she will be well enough to attend! 

Hope to see you at the ballpark!